Kylian Mbappe: Real Madrid cement next decade of dominance following arrival of football's global superstar
Published 03/06/2024 at 19:17 GMT+1
After a will they/won’t they that seemed to last longer than Ross and Rachel from Friends, Real Madrid have finally confirmed the arrival of French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer. With the help of TNT Sports experts Julien Laurens, Ally McCoist, Rio Ferdinand and Steve McManaman, Pete Sharland looks what this move means for both Mbappe and his new club.
Thousands of fans gather to welcome Mourinho to Fenerbahce
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Finally, it is done. European champions Real Madrid have capped off a memorable season, that also included La Liga and Supercopa de Espana triumphs, by confirming the signing of World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe.
The 25-year-old arrives on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain and thus ends one of the longest transfer sagas of recent times.
For what has seemed like decades, but in reality is just years, Madrid and Mbappe have been linked. Ever since those famous images of his wall as a child first emerged.
This, Mbappe will hope, will prove to be the turning point from which the electric forward will move from one of the greats of his generation, to one of the greatest of all time.
For Madrid this is the culmination of arguably the most impressive rebuilding job an elite superclub has ever done.
President Florentino Perez has watched the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema depart, with Toni Kroos to follow this summer and, you would imagine, Luka Modric the next to go within the new few years.
Yet the winning has not stopped. Saturday marked a sixth UEFA Champions League title in 11 years. Four La Liga titles in the same time period is not enough for a club like Madrid, but it is not anything to sneeze at either.
And now with Mbappe the club seems perfectly set up for the next decade. The Frenchman is one of 10 key figures at Madrid who are 25 or under along with Federico Valverde, Andriy Lunin, Aurelien Tchouameni, Brahim Diaz, Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior, Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Guler and of course Jude Bellingham. Adding on top of that is defensive lynchpin Eder Militao who is 26.
Speaking on TNT Sports after the Champions League final, Steve McManaman and Rio Ferdinand argued this point considering the arrival of Mbappe and Brazilian wonderkid Endrick, who is set to arrive in July when he turns 18.
"Now they don't need to buy players anymore because the players want to join them so much that they're orchestrating moves to get there," McManaman said.
"They have a new stadium [and] the team is young. Everybody's looking at this team thinking this could be a decade of dominance. And if you are good enough: 'how can I orchestrate a move to this team?'”
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‘Simplicity is genius’ - Ferdinand and Mourinho on Real’s ‘remarkable’ recruitment
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Ferdinand added: "What is scary right now is they have Kylian Mbappe coming here, Endrick, the next golden boy in Brazilian football. The recruitment has been nothing short of remarkable the last few years.
"From being the Galacticos over the years to buying the best young talent around, growing them, grooming them like Vinicius, like Rodrigo, to become superstars.
"Players now want to come to this club more than anywhere in the world because of what they do. They groom players, they improve players, all while putting trophies in the cabinet."
TNT Sports expert Julien Laurens is a PSG fan and has watched Mbappe ever since he broke through into first-team football.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the club’s Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund, Laurens said that he felt that Mbappe had outgrown Ligue 1.
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Laurens said: “He will arrive in Madrid and be like ‘This is my club now’. That's just the way he is.
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“I think he really cares about the club [PSG]. He's just too big now for Ligue 1. Of course he's leaving, but I think he really cares. That's why he's so committed."
Laurens says he believes that Mbappe is without question “the greatest” in the club’s history and he departs as the record goalscorer for PSG with 256 goals.
But what should Madrid and the rest of the world expect from Mbappe in the Spanish capital? Earlier in the season, Mbappe produced an outrageous piece of skill against FC Lorient and what stood out to TNT Sports pundit Ferdinand when talking about it a few days later was the end product, as well as the sheer level of skill involved.
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‘A magic man’ – Mbappe ‘not normal’, says Ferdinand
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Ferdinand said: “This had me hitting the high notes, look at the defender here he says ‘the ball’s out, the ball’s out, oh my god it’s gone, where is he?’
“This is like a magic man in the circus just doing stuff we don’t see, this isn’t normal you just don’t see anyone doing that.
“But at the speed he does it, he executes – and then he doesn’t just do a bit of skill then pass it wide throw it away and just celebrate the skill – he does the skill, bang in the middle, it’s a goal, end product.”
Fellow TNT Sports expert Ally McCoist knows a thing or two about scoring goals and as far as he is concerned, Mbappe has already reached that truly elite level.
"Mbappe is arguably one of the best players, if not the best player in the world at this moment in time," McCoist told TNT Sports before the upcoming European Championship, where he is expected to star for France. "He has taken over the mantle from Messi and Ronaldo.
"His main assets are goalscoring and his pace, there is no doubt about that, and he has got it in bundles.
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"I think he is probably better using his pace coming off a wing, whether that is the left preferably, or the right.
"He can finish with either foot, he is technically excellent, and I think he will be a real threat in these [European Championship] games."
McCoist added: “I wouldn't say he has any weaknesses, to be quite honest with you,
"He is maybe stronger in some departments than others, but in terms of weaknesses, I don't think he has any.”
McCoist also lit up when asked about the idea of playing with Mbappe, albeit with one pretty important caveat.
"I would have loved playing with Mbappe, I would have absolutely loved playing with Mbappe," he said with a huge smile.
"He is one of those players who, if he's coming off the side, you know he is getting by his full-back.
"All you need to do as a centre forward is get in the box, he'd probably have to slow down for me to be true!
"At the same time, I would loved to have played with him because once he went by that full-back, nine times out of 10 you have got a tap in or one coming off the goalkeeper."
Even his new team-mate Bellingham is excited about his arrival, telling TNT Sports after the Champions League final "If that was to happen, it would be amazing.
“He'd take us to another level," Bellingham said.
"A player like him...you see tonight I think it's the only little thing that maybe we're missing in terms of that clinical nine and I think if he was to come and give us that, we'd be in a really, really great place."
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‘The only little thing we’re missing’ – Bellingham explains what Mbappe might bring to Real
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In the season just finished, Mbappe scored 27 goals in Ligue 1 with a further eight in the Champions League. Across Europe’s top five leagues only Harry Kane (36) and Serhou Guirassy (28) scored more and no-one notched more in the Champions League.
One area of concern some people have raised with the signing is the question of fit. Mbappe’s preferred position is cutting inside from the left. That is also the favoured position of Ballon d’Or candidate Vinicius, not to mention Rodrygo.
Mbappe has tried to play as a central forward at times this season, perhaps in part because he knows what might be required of him in Madrid, but no one can deny where his best football comes from.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the Champions League final, former McManaman raised those concerns when discussing Mbappe, saying there would be pressure on the forward.
McManaman said: "There will be a certain amount of pressure [on Mbappe] if Real Madrid win the Champions League this year because they’ll have Rodrygo, Vini, Jude, Endrick and potentially Kylian next year and five into three doesn’t go.
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“Someone will have to drop out. The pressure is on him but he’s good enough to succeed. If they win the Champions League, he’s arguably joining the best team in the world now and he’ll be treated like a god.
“It’s a move he had to make, as much as the Paris Saint-Germain fans are upset and the president is upset, but I think it’s a choice he had to make because if he wants to be the best player in the world for the next five years, he needs the stage to perform on and I think this is it.”
The question on everyone’s lips now is this: Can Mbappe take that next step? He is undoubtedly one of the two or three best players in the world right now and should be for the next few years. But can he reach that next level - can he join the pantheon of greats that have graced this game?
He is walking to one of the best situations you could possibly demand with just a few hurdles to overcome. Between them he, Bellingham and Vinicius should rule Europe for the next decade. How it all comes together is going to be fascinating to watch.
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